


Countdown

by Kamesan



Series: Countdown - Christmas Klance [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 07:59:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17117495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamesan/pseuds/Kamesan
Summary: Dirt poor exchange student Lance can't afford a plane ticket home for the holidays. But there is still three weeks until Christmas, which is plenty of time for Lance to: declare a rivalry, join a vigilante group, fall in love, flirt shamelessly, fall in love again, take on an evil corporation, have his heart broken, snuggle puppies and kittens, and learn about the physics of structure fires. And maybe, just maybe, Lance will end up spending his Christmas with someone special.





	Countdown

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I do not know anything about Cuba nor do I know any Spanish. If you see any Cuba/Spanish related content that is offensive of incorrect please let me know.
> 
> UPDATE: The more I read this the more I hate it. I want to completely redo it into something resembling a decent story. I'll leave this chapter here for now and go on to the next one, which should be a lot better since it's from Keith's POV and somehow I can actually write well when it's with him. Lance's POV is a pain and I need to develop him better. 
> 
> So please read the other chapters when they are up, I hope they'll be better than this... thing.

 

**_December 3rd, Monday  
_ **

"I hate Christmas."

Hunk and Pidge gaped at their friend, stumbling over their feet as they halted in surprise.

"How can you hate Christmas?" asked Pidge, her eyebrows quirking into a confused state, "I thought this was, like, your thing? Holidays, festivities, extravagancies? They're so... You."

Lance sighed and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, hunching his shoulders against the cold.

"I'm not gonna be able to make it home this year." he said, staring down at the pavement. The silence from his friends seemed to overwhelm the busy sounds of the surrounding street. He sensed them glancing at each other and jerked his head up to meet their eyes.

"Nope, no, no you don't!" he shot before they could speak, "You guys are NOT messing up your Christmases so you can include me in your family events!"

He gave them a glare that lacked any malice, wondering if they could see how red and gritty his eyes felt at the moment. He'd known he wasn't going to be able to make it home for the holidays this time, but when the carols started playing and the world swung into Christmas fever every bit of festivity stabbed him with reminders of what he would be missing. His little nieces and nephews laughing and clinging to him, his siblings joking and shouting, the Parrandas outside clamoring down the street, his mother with her incredible food, beaming smile, and warm, comforting embrace. He hadn't been able to bear it, and ended up curling into his homesickness and sobbing himself to sleep at night.

"We really wouldn't mind if you joined us." said Pidge, her voice straining with rare sincerity. Hunk ran a hand through his hair, nodding.

"Yeah, man. My family would totally love to have you over!"

Lance gave them a smile he knew was weak and shook his head. "I'll be fine. It'll only be for a few days anyway. What's the worst I can get up to?"

Pidge snorted, obviously thinking about multiple Lance-like situations that could end in disaster. Hunk had a more worried look, but reflecting the same train of thought. Lance rolled his eyes at their well placed apprehension.

"Come on, guys," Lance drawled, a more robust grin spreading over his face "it's like you know me or something."

"Uh, yeah," said Hunk, his usual anxious tone slipping out, "Remember that time with the shopping cart? You almost died."

"Please, I had everything under control. They don't call me the Tailor for nothing." said Lance, winking at Pidge, whose face was less than impressed. Probably because she had been tucked in the front of the cart, unable to escape Lance's ride from hell. Someone had to have a video of it.

"Whatever, _Tailor_." she smirked, "Just know that the Holt household is always there if you end up burning down your guys' apartment."

"Please don't." stressed Hunk, "In fact, just come with me. Pidge can take care of Kaltenecker, or we can bring her with us. Y'know, quality cuddle time. It'll be fun... "

"I don't think Kallie would enjoy a ten hour car ride," noted Pidge.

"It's only four hours." interjected Hunk, but Pidge waved him off and continued.

"And as much as I'd love to have her over, I don't think she'd be too keen on Bae Bae either." Lance shrugged in woeful agreement.

"You named your dog Bae Bae." huffed Hunk, "Like, one Bae wasn't enough? Actually, Bae. Really?"

"It makes Matt feel special." said Pidge, "When he's all rejected and alone he says 'well, at least I still have Bae' and then they snuggle together. It's pretty pathetic."

"Oh, you wanna hear about pathetic?" chortled Hunk, "A while back Lance got drunk and-"

"Ok, Nope! We are not taking about that!" yelped Lance, lunging for Hunk in an effort to stifle the information leak from his roommate. They ended up tangled in each other's arms, laughing and shoving while Pidge looked on, wearing an expression that Lance knew meant she would get the story out of them eventually.

 

After some more tussling that gained them a few disapproving glares from passersby, the trio continued on, meandering their way down streets and alleys towards the old tenant complex that was home. Pidge texted while she walked, most likely negotiating permission to stay over with the guys judging by the irritated frown she wore. Lance placed a hand on her shoulder, steering her around obstacles as she squinted at the screen, oblivious to reality. After more scowling she tersely turned her phone off and shoved it into a pocket. Hunk and Lance exchanged looks but said nothing. Their tiny, feisty friend had been grounded before for stuff like this, and probably would be again, but pointing that out would only result in pain. Theirs. At the hands of her. She was already giving them a dark look, like a warning sign from a small deadly creature. Lance couldn't resist.

"Negotiations break down?" he asked a little too smugly, and was met with a piercing screech as Pidge lunged at him, clinging on like a possessed marsupial. He shrieked in surprise and tried to pry her off him without success.

"Hunk! Help me!" he shouted, voice filled with panic and a hint of humour. Hunk shook his head.

"On your own, buddy." laughed Hunk, watching the spectacle. When Pidge figured she'd made her point she relaxed and dangled on Lance's back, forcing him to piggyback her, which he did with a resigned slump of his shoulders. Pidge smirked at Hunk, either because of her victory or her newfound height, he couldn't tell. She was adorable, like a very sadistic hedgehog. Cute and spiky.

To be fair Lance was a great friend. He carried his small demonic parcel for several blocks without complaint before she squirmed against him and he let her down. Pidge nearly keeled over due to her numb legs, which had fallen asleep in Lance's arms. Hunk laughed and held her up until she could hobble without falling over. Meanwhile Lance was shaking out his arms, grimacing and generally making a big scene about it.

"I'm not that heavy." sniped Pidge, eyes narrowing as Lance tenderly rolled his shoulders. Again.

"Don't be too sure about that." he grumbled. Anything got heavy if you carried it long enough, even his seemingly feather-light friend. He worked at the knot in his back one more time before giving up. It was a hot bath for him tonight if he could sneak it in past penny-pincher Hunk, who didn't believe in "wasting" hot water on things like baths. If he had his way the shower would be timed or something.

"Whoa, check it out. GTA mugging, 8 o'clock." piped Hunk, pointing to their left. They were walking through an alleyway that ran along a fenced retaining wall, overlooking a deserted parking lot. At the far end of the lot was a group of several people. Five of them were clearly up to no good, with baggy gangsta clothes and slouched shoulders, leering at the individual in their center, whose posture and dress were neat and crisp in stark contrast. It was literally a classic shakedown.

"Should we go help them?" asked Pidge, reaching for her phone. Hunk shuddered.

"Ok, as heroic as that would be, those guys would chew us up and spit us out like nothing. Let's call the cops and get out of here." he said, already backing up.

"Yeah, I don't feel like getting shanked today." added Lance, eyeing up the goons. They did look like serious trouble. Hunk gave him a grateful "Thank you!" Pidge shot them both a glare.

"The cops'll never make it in time." she retorted, fingers flying over her touch screen. It didn't look like she was dialing the police.

One of the thugs shoved the cornered man, hard, but he shrugged it off passively.

"Say cheese!" sneered Pidge, tapping her phone screen with a flourish. Hunk and Lance peered over her shoulder inquisitively. It flickered once and then brought up a grainy video of the group below, but at an angle that looked suspiciously like security cam feed.

"Ok, so I hacked into a cop cap just now." reported Pidge, tapping some more buttons and zooming in on the perpetrators and their victim.

"You WHAT?!" squeaked Hunk, now wringing his hands. Pidge started to say something else but Lance interrupted her.

"That's Shiro!" he gasped, pointing to the accosted man, "That guy's, like, my hero!"

Pidge squinted at the video, then her eyes went wide with shock.

"Oh my god, you're right." she said, face paling, "We have to go help him now." Lance nodded, eyes still fixed on the man on the screen.

"Guys, no. This is way out of our league. Lance, c'mon man, you said you didn't want to get involved." pleaded Hunk, trying to pull his reckless friends away. Lance shrugged him off.

"That was before we were properly motivated." he said, furrowing his brow in thought, "We need a plan. If we had some sort of distraction to-"

"Will that work?" interrupted Pidge. She pointed to a darkly clad figure tearing across the lot towards the group. Judging by his shouts and the reactions of the gang they were not acquaintances.

"No!" hissed Lance, coming alive and lunging over the fence, "He is _not_ getting ahead of me this time!"

"Who is that?" cried Hunk, scrambling after Lance.

"Keith!" shouted Lance from where he dangling on the edge of the wall, which was a good fifteen feet high, "I'd know that ugly hair anywhere!"

"Who's Keith?!" yelped Pidge, trying to drag herself over the fence after her friends. No one answered her.

Lance leaped off the wall, hitting the ground hard and sprinting towards the escalating brawl. Pidge and Hunk shimmied their way down instead, clinging to the seams in the wall face. By the time they reached the bottom Lance was already most of the way across the parking lot, vaulting over the concrete dividers littering the place.

"NOPE! No! No, no, no! I'm saving Shiro!" he hollered, clambering over a particularly tall divider, but his voice was lost among the shouting that was already going on between Shiro and the newcomer, Keith. The rest of the thugs were nowhere to be seen.

"I can't believe you gave them your wallet!"

"I can't believe you pulled a knife on them!"

Keith looked at his hands, shame covering his face. In his right hand was a small leather wallet, Shiro's, and in his left was a freaking dagger, the fixed blade kind.

Lance awkwardly slid off the divider as the two men fell silent. Keith turned to face Lance, quickly stashing his knife under his sweater, bruised face completely impassive. He stared at Lance for an uncomfortably long moment.

"Who are you?" he finally asked, his voice just as expressionless as his face. Lance felt a hot surge of anger in his gut.

"Uh, the name's Lance." he drawled, blinking his eyes expectantly. Keith didn't react.

"We went to Garrison High together? Were in the same Math class at college this last semester?" Lance prompted. Keith furrowed his brow.

"Uh, really? Are you in mechanics or something?" asked Keith tentatively.

"What? No! I'm an engineer!" sputtered Lance, "You know, we were kinda like rivals: Lance and Keith, neck and neck." Keith's face twitched into recognition.

"Oh wait, I remember you," he said darkly, "You're that crazy guy from the general course."

"Not anymore!" snapped Lance, "I'm in the Advanced Program now, thanks to you dropping out."

Keith froze, a look of humiliation flashing over his face before it was quickly replaced by a steely glare. Lance was sure he was about to get punched out.

"Keith, what does he mean by 'you dropping out'?" asked Shiro, disbelief in his voice. Keith flinched, body going completely rigid. Oh. OH. Realization hit Lance. He'd just dropped a massive bomb that Keith didn't want Shiro, whoever he was to Keith, to know.

"Look, college just wasn't working for me, ok?" said Keith, voice straining to seem flippant. Shiro's face fell in disappointment.

"But you worked so hard to get-"

"It doesn't matter anymore!" snapped Keith, flinging the wallet he still held at Shiro. The older man tried to grab at it but missed, and the wallet bounced off his fingertips and onto the ground. Lance snatched it up, moving mostly on impulse, and handed it back to Shiro.

"I-it's an honour to meet you, Sir." he stammered, his voice and words and posture all feeling incredibly awkward and out of place. Shiro wrestled his distraught face under control and gave Lance a patient smile, one filled with sincere kindness.

"Hey, I know this a touching moment and all that, but I hear sirens." said Hunk from behind Lance, making him jump. He hadn't noticed them approach at all. Pidge was still trying to make it over the concrete divider, face red with strain. Not far off was the familiar wail of police sirens. Lance glanced at Pidge, who was now slumped against the divider, catching her breath.

"Are those coming for us?" he asked.

"Not unless those goons that emo boy stabbed called them." said Pidge, on her phone again.

"I didn't stab anyone." growled Keith defensively. He looked like he also wanted to correct the emo boy part as well.

"Then let's scram." said Hunk, already heading towards the exit.

"Wait," said Shiro, his voice taking on an authoritarian tone, "We need to stay put and wait for the police."

"Ok, no." said Lance, grabbing Shiro's arm and tugging him after Hunk, "If we leave now Pidge can make it so we were never here. No cops, no hassle."

Pidge gave him a thumbs up, stilling typing like mad with her other hand. Shiro pulled away, protesting, but Keith took his other arm.

"Let's just get out of here, Shiro." he mumbled, eyes fixed on the pavement. Shiro gave him a conflicted look, then relaxed and let them haul him away.

They scuttled through the shadows, putting some distance between them and the parking lot, until the sirens faded into the distance, bypassing them completely. A tense silence settled over the group as they walked aimlessly, the tension particularly thick between Keith and Shiro.

"S-so, Mr. Shirogane," stuttered Hunk, unable to bear the pressure anymore, "What brings you back to Arus?"

"Just Shiro is fine." smiled Shiro "I'm helping out at a local aid center run by an acquaintance, which I was trying to find before..." He trailed off, glancing at Keith, who continued to stare at the ground. The conversation fizzled out, leaving them in more oppressive silence.

"So, uh..." Keith's voice broke through the quiet, startling everyone more than it should have, "Do you have someplace to stay while you're here?"

"The people at the aid center were supposed to take care of my accommodations, but since I can't seem to find the darned place I guess I'm on my own, at least for tonight. I don't even have my luggage, since it was sent to the center ahead of me." Shiro laughed lightly, but there was exhaustion in his voice.

"Have you tried contacting your friend yet?" asked Lance, "They could come get you."

"My phone is completely dead." said Shiro, sounding a little dead inside himself.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Lance glanced at his roommate, eyes pleading. If they threw Pidge out then Shiro, The Shiro, could spend the night at their flat. Hunk returned his stare, expression conflicted.

"Wanna come to my place?" asked Keith. Lance almost punched something. Why was this guy always getting the jump on him? Even after he'd crashed and burned out of school he was still outdoing Lance.

Of course Shiro accepted Keith's invitation, and the tired look in his eyes was replaced by one of pure joy and hope. The two groups parted ways, with Keith and Shiro heading off into the gloomy night while Lance, Hunk, and Pidge were left feeling like they'd just been through a surreal experience.

They trudged back to their apartment, backtracking the route they'd taken with Shiro and Keith.

"Sooo..." said Hunk, a grin spreading over his face, "We totally just met Shiro."

Lance groaned, running his hands through his hair restlessly.

"What's your problem? You got to meet your hero." sniped Pidge, her tone unusually sharp.

"Yeah, and I acted like a compete _comemierda_!" moaned Lance. Hunk and Pidge stared at him blankly and he realized the slip.

"It means idiot in Spanish." he explained dully, feeling another pang of homesickness at the rude but familiar word.

"Well, even though you did kind of go all cringey fan boy on him Shiro was super nice about it, like, genuinely so. So don't sweat it." said Hunk, making Lance wince with embarrassment.

"But what do you think was up with Keith? Those two definitely have some sort of history." continued Hunk. Lance ground his teeth in frustration. Keith seemed to get everything: ability, intelligence, praise, scholarships, and of course girls, even with his hideous hair. He'd been at the top of the list for the Advanced Program, and he'd thrown it away like it was nothing. Now Shiro was back and he was fawning over Keith for just existing. Lance would have given almost anything to have his idol look at him for more than three seconds. Life. Wasn't. Fair.

Hunk's words hung in air, unanswered by either of his friends. Lance was obviously stewing, but Pidge's state was disconcerting, her mind a million miles away. Hunk sighed and let the silence consume them until they reached home.

 

Lance shed his bad mood just like he shed his jacket as he walked through the front door.

"Kaltenecker!" he cooed into the dark apartment. Just as the word left his lips a lanky black and white spotted cat tore out of the shadows and launched herself at Lance, landing neatly on his shoulder. She bunted his chin affectionately and he buried his face into her velvety fur, scratching her favorite spots. Hunk slid past him and turned on the lights, used to their daily cuddle routine. Pidge shoved past Lance roughly, burying an elbow into his ribs on her way by.

"Hey!" cried Lance, twisting away but taking care not to drop his cat, "Pidge, don't ignore our child!"

Pidge rolled her eyes, not bothering to make comment. Just because that secondhand gaming console she'd bought had come with a free kitten didn't mean she was suddenly a co-parent of a fur child with Lance. He was doting enough for both of them.

"Pidge, go ahead and set up the TV if you want to play something." called Hunk, now clattering about in their tiny kitchenette, "Lance, come help me with dinner. And for god's sake, take off that sweater before you come in here!"

**Author's Note:**

> This story was supposed to be done by Christmas, but life happened. Here's the first chapter, hope y'all like it! 
> 
> I'm not really sure where I'm going but I love Klance so that'll be a thing. Somewhere. Somehow. 
> 
> Also, I've written a prequel/side story of this one called 'Countdown - The Video Collections'. The characters will be referring to various recorded videos and such throughout the story, so I wanted to play around and write those out. Hopefully I'll be adding more chapters soon.


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